Awakening: Rise of the King
by t.j.guard
Summary: Normalcy is beginning to return to Amity Park, or so it seems. The Fentons are facing a catastrophe; can they decode Clockwork's poem before time is called? Sequel to Awakening
1. Chapter 1

Rise of the King

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, or any characters thereof. All I own are Demi, her brothers, and the rest of the gang that you don't recognize.

A/N: Still in Demi's POV. It'll make sense if you read Awakening first.  
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Chapter One

'_Tick tock, tick tock,_

_The words that the Time Master cannot stop._

_Tick tock, tick tock,_

_Then watch as the silence drops._

'_The last of the old lights_

_Guide us through endless night._

_The Ancient Ones are called again;_

_The cruel master, to seal away._

'_This time it may forever be,_

_And the Ancient Ones see_

_That all the world over,_

_Here stand the last of the others._

'_So rise, Ancient Ghosts, to the call of the clock:_

_Tick tock, tick tock._'

I read over the poem in my dream journal for the sixteenth time, at least, and the more I tried to figure it out, the less sense it made. As far as I knew, the so-called Ancient Ghosts had all moved on, except possibly Clockwork and the one-eyed ghosts he worked for. Dad called the Observants in his stories, which seemed like a better term to use than 'one-eyed ghosts'. Then there was the phrase "The words that the Time Master cannot stop, in reference to "Tick tock, tick tock." This didn't make sense, either, since the title Time Master implied just the opposite.

I heard a knock on my door frame, which jerked me out of my thoughts. "Demi, everything okay in here?" Dad asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "I was just thinking."

"'Bout what?"

"A dream I had a couple weeks ago."

Dad stood erect and raised an eyebrow. "Was it a nightmare?"

I shook my head. "More like a vision or message."

"Ah. Figure out what it means yet?"

"Nope. It was from Clockwork, though, so it doesn't really strike me as all that odd, considering."

Dad let out a soft chuckle, closed his eyes, and shook his head softly. "I'm not surprised either," he whispered.

"Does it make any sense to you, this poem?" I asked, handing him my journal, open to the most recent entry, only a couple weeks old. He read the poem slowly, using an expression identical to the one he used when he asked the police officer interviewing me for details on Mr. Collins' murder.

Dad chewed his lip and knit his brow. "Definitely sounds like Clockwork," he said after a long moment, handing my journal bakc to me. "Phantom's been in his custody for thirty years, our time. Maybe he's heard it."

"Much as I hate to say it, I'll ask him."

Dad nodded, and I looked down at my hands and arms. The tank top I was wearing revealed the portions of my arms that were bluish and scarred from Phantom's attacks. "Still thinking about that, arent you?"

"How can I not?"

Dad took a seat on my bed. "Everything's gonna work out, Demi."

"I hope you're right, but so little of this is making sense that I can't be sure of anything anymore."

"I trust Clockwork to know what he's doing."

"But will it be worth it? Phantom was Act One, so what's Act Two, and you mentioned someone called Pariah Dark, but I don't think you told me that story, either."

"I haven't. Pariah Dark and Phantom are two of the most dangerous ghosts in existence. When I ghost hunt, I'm trying to keep you safe, from them especially."

"Not working out so well, is it?"

"That's not going to stop me from trying."

"I know, Dad."

He wrapped his arms around me, and I closed my eyes and let out a soft sigh. "You talk to Phantom about the poem, and we'll go from there, okay?"

"Okay."

DPDP

I walked to Fentonworks, a fifteen-minute walk from home, and walked into the basement. The Fenton Thermos was perched on a table near the portal, and when I began to cross the basement, Phantom cried from inside the thermos, "Don't shake it."

"Relax," I said. "I'm not gonna shake it." I took a seat on a nearby office chair. "I'm going to recite a poem for you, and I want you to tell me what you know about it."

"What makes you think I'll know anything about poetry."

"The poem is Clockwork's, and you've been in his custody for thirty years, on a time scale, at least."

He let out an audible sigh. "Okay, hit me with it." I cleared my throat and recited a poem that I had committed to memory over the course of the previous couple of weeks. Phantom was silent for a long moment after I finished, but finally he said, "I've heard it before, but I'm as clueless now as I was then. It's basically meaningless, as far as I'm concerned."

"Do you remember any sort of context you heard it in?"

"Mm, parts of it. End of the world, return of the Ancient Ghosts, weird crackpot stuff like that." After a pause, he added, "You don't think it's that crazy, do you?"

I shrugged. "Anything's possible."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

I blocked Dad's strike easily and then split my shield, launching the two pieces as projectiles. He dodged the strikes and then readied an ecto-blast. As a preemptive move, I shot a ghost ray out of my finger, knocking the budding blast out of his hand. "Nice move," he said. "You're getting better every day."

"It's only been a couple weeks," I said.

"But you're doing better than I was two weeks after I got my ghost powers."

"But I'm nervous about trying the simplest things. Going ghost is still kind of painful."

"Well, whether that's the standard or not, no one knows yet."

"What else is new?"

"I'd ask you the same question. Did Phantom have anything to say about the poem?"

"Yeah, actually. Something about the end of the world and the return of the Ancient Ghosts. At least the Ancient Ghosts part makes sense, since there are several lines that talk about the 'ancient ones' being called again, and one line even says 'Ancient Ghosts' outright."

Dad launced a ghost ray at me, which I dodged almost without realizing I was under attack. "You got me talking," I said with a broad smile on my face. Dad laughed, and, though I was laughing as well, I launched ectoplasmic discs at him. He caught the discs and sent them flying back at me, and, as more of a reaction than a conscious choice, I sliced them in half, and they dissolved into nothing.

"That all you got?" Dad teased. "C'mon, I know you can do better than that."

I smirked, and I held my hands out. With a deep breath, I forced the energy swirling around inside me to gather in my palms. I took aim and fired.

Dad blocked the ghost rays, but he was knocked backward by the force of the attack. "Wow, you're a quick study."

"That's what Phantom said."

"Well, he's right."

"Are you only saying that because you two are pretty much alike?"

"I'm not just saying it, and it's because we are alike that he would say something like that." I gave my dad a slightly annoyed look. "What? It's true."

"Dad, this is your greatest enemy we're talking about. He'll say anything to get what he wants, especially if what you say about him being a fusion of your and Vlad's ghost halves is true. Considering what you told me about Vlad, there's a good chance that Phantom's just as cunning, and possibly even a little crazy."

"Good point." After a pause, he said, "Hey, isn't tonight a school night?"

"Oh, I almost forgot."

Dad and I descended to the street and returned to human form. After blinking away the few spots in my eyes, I followed him home.

DPDP

I awoke to the strangest sense that someone was watching me, so I switched on my reading lamp. It was one thirty in the morning, and my room was entirely empty. To be on the safe side, I climbed out of bed, walked over, and opened my window, leaning out and peering around. In the distance, I could hear the Box Ghost proclaiming his name and adding his usual "Beware". I rolled my eyes and pulled my head back into my bedroom, closing the window behind me. Maybe I was just losing my mind, or I was becoming more receptive to ambient ectoplasmic energy.

I took a deep breath and climbed back into bed, closing my eyes. If only I could just get the night over with so I could start the coming week of school, the week ending with the Spring Fling, but my body simply refused to sleep, resulting in my laying awake, staring at the ceiling.

What was I becoming? I thought. I had already proven myself to be a powerful half-ghost, or quarter-ghost, especially since the attack. Why don't I try something simple? I sat up and crossed my legs. I held my hand out in front of me and took a deep breath. I could feel a change in my hand, and gingerly, I pressed it to the bed. It passed right through the comforter, even deeper, into the mattress. I pulled it out again, and my hand returned to normal, albeit aching like it had been ripped apart and put together again, which, technically, it had.

I had turned my hand intangible. It hadn't been impossible after all, as I had feared. It hurt on the same level going ghost did, but it wasn't impossible, and that was enough for me.

I lay down on my side, burying my hand beneath my pillow and shifting my position slightly. I closed my eyes, and this time, sleep came more easily.

DPDP

The next afternoon, the streets of Amity Park were packed with kids just getting out of school and on their way to the Nasty Burger. I walked home without interruption or obligation to actually engage anyone in conversation.

I set my bag down on the sofa and entered the kitchen in search of an after-school snack. Dad left a note on the fridge: "Went to check on a few things at Fentonworks, be back as soon as possible. Dad". I ripped the note off the fridge door, crumpled it up, and tossed it into the trash without a second thought.

I knew Clockwork still had something up his sleeve. It was an impression that stayed with me for two weeks, since Clockwork said, "Brilliant first act. Time for an intermission." There was more to come, and Dad was acting like everything had gone back to normal. Phantom was in a Fenton Thermos in my grandparents' basement. How was that normal?

I sighed. It'd been too weeks, after all. Of course it would feel like things would be back to normal. Why shouldn't it?

I guess I was the only one who understood the nature of Clockwork's words. He knew that my being attacked was fixed because it led up to something else that was fixed, something that was much more important. I immediately thought of the poem. "So rise, Ancient Ghosts, to the call of the clock: Tick tock, tick tock." Then there was something about a cruel master, and Dad had mentioned Pariah Dark, twice, but he wasn't telling me anything, yet.

Apparently I was asking around.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Pariah Dark?" Phantom asked from the thermos. "Sounds familiar, but I've done so much and then been forced into an existence outside of time, spending thirty years hearing about the time stream and various events within it that I lose track of exactly what events are mine and what aren't, except for the basics, of course."

"Tell me what you know or I'm shaking this thing," I snapped.

"Okay, okay. I can't be a hundred percent sure if this is me or not, but I remember hearing something about how the King of All Ghosts was sealed away, twice. Once by a band of ancients rebelling because he was such a crappy ruler, and the second time by your father, back when he was your age. He was in that ecto suit that zaps your energy whenever you use it, and he had a hell of a lot of help from a hell of a lot of ghosts, but he won."

"So explain the Fright Knight to me."

"Fright Knight, self-proclaimed ghost of Halloween. He's Pariah's right hand ghost, and in my timeline, I...persuaded...him to work for me."

"Persuaded?"

"Okay, forced, because I remember destroying the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, and Pariah, while he was in it."

"In your timeline, so none of that technically happened."

"Right."

"So Pariah's still around, and so is the Fright Knight."

"Right."

"So this stuff in the poem, about the cruel master and the return of the Ancient Ghosts, what is that?"

"Look, the poem is still pretty enigmatic to me. I'm not the person you should ask about this."

"You attacking me was fixed because it's leading up to another fixed event, so Clockwork is unable to give me any answers. Don't send me to find him."

"Okay, fine, I won't, but still, I can't answer your question."

"Anything else you can tell me, like anything at all on the Ancient Ghosts?"

"Nobody talks about the Ancient Ghosts outside of what they did to Pariah. At all. Not even the Observants. Not even Clockwork. Not even to say why they won't talk about them. It's all so hush-hush it puts the American government to shame, like even mentioning the Ancient Ghosts shouldn't be done."

"Were they bad guys?"

"Hell no. They sealed away Pariah Dark in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. They're not bad guys."

"So what happened?"

"The story goes that Pariah, when he was in power, ruled with an iron fist over pretty much all of the Ghost Zone. The Ancient Ones were the only ones to rebel, and they were powerful ones. I'm not really sure why they're not talked about anymore, but I heard that most of the original Ancient Ones moved on shortly after sealing Pariah away. I think the only one that stayed was Clockwork, because he has to keep track of time and everything."

"The Observants?"

"As usual didn't do anything about anything."

"They just watch?"

"All they ever do. It's kind of annoying, because they have to tell Clockwork to make sure everything runs smoothly, which is stupid becasue he knows everything, including whether he needs to intervene or not. He doesn't most of the time, anyway. Guess he'd rather make sure everyone has free will or something like that."

"But the problem with fixed events is that you really don't have free will. Everything happens the same way every time."

"It's really kind of weird when you think about it."

"Yeah, it is." I leaned back and chewed my lip, rattling my brain for something more to say.

The cruel master, the Ancient Ghosts whom ghosts nowadays didn't talk about very much, the poem. It all began to fit together, and once it hit me, I wanted to slap myself. "Phantom, did it ever hit you that the poem was a prophecy?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"The cruel master, the Ancient Ghosts...did it ever strike you as strange, maybe a little prophetic?"

Phantom paused. "I never thought about it," he finally said.

"Okay," I replied. "I guess I better go. Dad doesn't know I'm here, and maybe if I leave now I can beat him home."

"I can tell I rubbed off on you."

I rolled my eyes. "See ya."

I walked out of the basement, glancing back at the thermos before ascending the stairs.

DPDP

I reached home just as the sun set, and though I was careful about shutting the door behind me, Dad noticed anyway. "Demi, where did you go?" he asked from the sofa. He gave me a stern look, the sort that could only mean trouble, and there was no way I could lie my way out of this if I tried.

"I knew you wouldn't tell me about Pariah Dark, so I asked Phantom," I replied, struggling to keep my voice even.

"Why would you want to know about Pariah Dark?"

"I think he has something to do with that poem. Can you blame me for trying to put pieces together?"

"I can't, but I'd appreciate it if you told me where you were going. For all I knew, you were floating in the Ghost Zone, a full ghost."

"Phantom's stuck in a thermos. It's not like he could do anything."

"It's not just Phantom I'm talking about, Demi. There are a lot of ways to die in this world."

"I know."

"Demi, you need to be careful. God knows how many and which ghosts or people could be after you if they heard about you."

"Oh, like the Guys in White?"

"Guys in White, or any other professional ghost hunters, or even non-professional ones."

"Like Skulker?"

"Exactly."

"I survived Phantom. I have a feeling I can survive Skulker and the Guys in White."

"And if you don't?"

"Then you can track me down in the Ghost Zone and rip me a new one."

Dad rested his hands on my shoulders. "I don't want to have to do that."

"I know."

He pulled me close and whispered, "Next time, tell me where you're going."

"I will."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Psychology's substitute teacher for the substitute teacher was an uptight-looking woman with her hair in a tight bun, a pair of reading glasses perched on her nose, and a suit that looked almost impossibly clean. I shrank into my seat, mentally preparing myself for the long day that lay ahead, lumps forming in my throat and stomach.

"Are you always this early?" the woman said, eyeing me like I harbored the Plague. I nodded. "Don't break this habit." I nodded again, identifying the location of the nearest trash can, ten feet away. She returned to her preparations for the day, and I returned to trying to swallow the lump in my throat.

Students began to file in and take their seats, and I could sense the general apprehension in the room. My hair stood on end, and the lumps in my throat and stomach got bigger.

"Good morning, students," she said, and the longest Psychology class I had ever experienced began.

DPDP

Lunch finally arrived, and I walked into the commons area, sinking into a chair with a heavy sigh. The first half of the day was done, and it was all downhill from there. I studied the students in the commons, who were all eating lunch and engaged in chatter, mostly gossip.

"Demi, I need your help," Tanner said, rushing up to me.

"If it has anything to do with Deirdre O'Flannery, screw off," I snapped.

"What do you have against her, anyway?"

"What do I have against her? What do I have against her?" I pushed myself to my feet, staring Tanner down. He stumbled back a step. "How dare you ask me what I have against Deirdre when she's the only one you care about. I have been trying to get your attention for years, and you just want the one person who you think would do well in bed? I can't believe you."

"Your...your...your..." he began, backing up even farther and staring me in the eye.

"My what? Spit it out, before I decide never to talk to you again."

"Your eyes are red."

I pushed my way past him and rushed into the bathroom, turning toward the closest mirror in record time. Sure enough, my eyes were glowing red, and I became aware of the sense that I was more alive than ever. Powerful.

I took a deep breath, and my eyes returned to their usual purple color. The sense of power abated. I backed up until my back pressed against the tile of the wall, and I sank into a sitting position, wrapping my arms around my knees. What kind of monster was I becoming? What kind of thing had Phantom made me?

Deirdre walked in, gave me a passing glance, and went to applying mascara. "I have a lot of respect for women who can stand up to sex-crazed men," she said.

"Okay, back up," I said. "Are you being nice to me?"

"What's it look like?"

"So maybe you are. What do you want?"

"Just to congratulate you. Tanner's coming on heavy, and I think maybe you're onto something with that whole only-good-in-bed thing." She screwed the cap of her mascara and turned to face me, leaning against the sink. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

I got to my feet. "It was nothing," I said. "Look, I don't know about you, but I don't wnat to be late for English. I hear we have that test today."

"Oh, God, those are brutal, and you especially can't be late on test day."

We walked out of the bathroom, separating as soon as we entered the crowd. I glanced at Tanner, who regarded me with as much fear as I felt.

DPDP

"Everything okay?" Dad asked when I walked into the kitchen.

"Am I really that obvious?" I replied.

"That and I know you well enough to read you like a book. What happened?"

"I got mad at Tanner."

"I thought you liked the guy."

"But he likes Deirdre, and apparently she hates it, but I digress. I was chewing him out for wanting someone he thought would be good in bed, and when he started stammering, I coaxed it out of him. He said my eyes were red. I rushed to the bathroom to check, and sure enough, my eyes were red. And the weirdest thing was, I felt powerful, like I had rght after Phantom's attack. It scared me. It still does." Dad looked down at the ground. If the account made him uneasy, I could only imagine what living through it would do to him. "It's Phantom, isn't it? You think he somehow made me more like him."

"I think he made you more of a ghost, if only by accident. I wanna have tests run on you to be sure, and I'm thinking I'll take you tomorrow after school, or early, if you can make it."

"Okay."

"But?"

I studied my hands, which were folded in my lap. My stomach was in knots, and my throat felt tight. Even so, I took a deep breath. "What if I turn out evil?" I asked in a slightly raspy voice. "What then?"

"If that happens, then much as I love you, I'll have to do everything in my power to stop you."

I threw my arms around Dad's neck and settled onto his lap. "Thanks," I whispered. "So much."

He rested his hands on my back. "You're welcome, baby girl," he replied. I rested my head on his shoulder and relaxed my grip, my eyes fluttering closed. He leaned back in his chair. "I remember when you used to cling to my leg and say, 'Fly, Daddy, fly.' You just loved it when I hovered around on my back with you on my chest. And now here you are, flying in your own right, along with a bunch of other things."

"Yeah, I remember that, too, a little bit. I tried intangibility a couple nights ago."

"How'd you do?"

"I just tried it with my hand. I got it to turn intangible and pass right into my mattress, and I got it out without incident."

"Good. I always got stuck to stuff when I first got my powers."

"My hand still hurt, though."

"I've gotta admit, this is weird. You don't have trouble with shields or ghost rays, and you haven't tried the stinger or Wail, yet, I know that much."

"Yeah, it is weird, but hey, I'm a freak of nature, so what can you expect?"

Dad shrugged. That was probably all the answer I was going to get from him on the matter.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

I rolled onto my stomach and buried my face in my pillow. I had been tossing and turning all night, and I knew I was engaging in a futile exercise, but that didn't stop me from trying.

I pushed myself up so that I was on my knees. It was five thirty A.M. according to the clock on my night stand. I decided against trying to sleep and instead got dressed and walked out of the house and down the street to Fentonworks. I wasn't sure exactly what kind of tests would be run on me, but it wasn't like I had anything to do right then.

I knocked on the front door of Fentonworks, and Jazz answered. "Dad wanted me to come here so you could run tests on me, I think for my ectoplasmic configuration," I said.

"But...you were born a quarter-ghost," she replied, raising an eyebrow.

"And I was attacked by Phantom, whom Dad thinks may have made me more of a ghost than I was to begin with."

"Oh, uh, come in." I stepped over the threshold. "We're just gonna run some basic genetic and ectoplasmic tests," she continued, leading me to the stairway to the basement. "We're going to draw some blood, since that seems to work the best for this sort of thing."

"Okay." I glanced over at the thermos where Phantom waited, probably bored out of his mind and most likely desperately hoping no one would shake the thermos, or that someone would let him out.

Jazz walked over to another table, somewhere toward the middle of the wall to my left, and pulled a cotton ball, some rubbing alcohol, a needle and syringe, and a test tube with a stopper out of the cabinet above. "Okay, Demi, have a seat and roll up your sleeve." I complied, albeit gingerly. She studied my arm before finding an ideal spot and rubbing it with rubbing alcohol. I winced as she inserted the needle, and I clenched my jaw as she drew blood. She removed the needle and rubbed the area with rubbing alcohol again. "That oughta do it," she said.

"Thanks," I said, watching her inject the blood into the test tube and toss the syringe into a nearby biohazard bin. I looked over at the thermos Phantom was in. "How's he been?"

"Pretty quiet. Considering what your father says about him, I was expecting something more along the lines of a few snarky remarks and escape attempts every hour."

"He's been in that thing for thirty years, if you put that to a time scale, probably more, probably less, since he was with Clockwork. He's probably freaking out right now."

"Is that good or bad?"

"As long as he's freaked enough to willingly stay in there, it's good." I glanced at Phantom's thermos and then at the portal. "You know who to call if things go wrong, right?"

"Yeah."

"Just checking. Well, I guess I better get home."

"You probably should. Danny'll be up by now, and he'll probably be worried about you."

I nodded and walked out of the basement, glancing back at Phantom one last time.

DPDP

The ticking started at twelve forty-seven and thirty-six seconds that afternoon, when I was in English class. It was faint, and I even wondered if I was insane, but it wouldn't go away. It didn't change in volume or pitch, but it just wouldn't go away.

I pulled a pencil and sheet of paper out of my binder and began drawing in an effort to distract myself, but when I looked down at my paper, I saw a phrase in stylized lettering: 'So rise, Ancient Ghosts, to the call of the clock'. I set my pencil down and leaned back in my seat, staring at the letters without really seeing them.

If the ticking was the call of the clock, which was the most logical conclusion, what was I supposed to do now? I knew I wasn't an Ancient Ghost-far from it. I was a half-a-halfa, and I had no idea what Phantom's ectoplasm did to me, outside of the scarring and perhaps the red eyes.

Tick, tock, tick, tock. Tick, tock, tick, tock.

The words that the Time Master cannot stop, the poem said, but it didn't make any sense. The Time Master was just that, the Master of All Time. Time bent to his will, not the other way around.

Then there was something about the dropping of silence, or the falling of silence. Typically, in some contexts, that meant the end of the world, or the universe, or some other sizeable area of space. According to the poem, the two were connected. Once the ticking stopped, the world ended, but where did the so-called cruel master fit into all of this?

Phantom told me about Pariah, whom I could reasonably assume to be the cruel master, but who would let him out? If it was him, releasing him from the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep would trigger the rest of what was supposed to happen, which begged the question of who would pull the trigger. In all honesty, it could've been anyone, from Phantom to Dad to Grandma and Grandpa, or God knew who else.

"Demetria, do you have anything to add?" Mr. Angelo asked, making me jump.

"Huh? What?" I asked, looking around. Everyone in the class was staring at me expectantly, and almost immediately, a lump formed at the pit of my stomach.

"We were discussing poetry. Perhaps you have a poem to share with the class?" Immediately, I recited the one thing that had been on my mind for days, watching as Mr. Angelo wrote it down on the board. "Now, let's analyze this thing." That was the one thing I've been trying to do for as long as I've known about the poem.

Mr. Angelo started talking about theme, meter, rhyme, and other elements of poetry, and I took notes avidly, especially when he discussed symbolism. All the while, I felt that this was the best thing to happen to me yet.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

I glanced around at the faces in the Fentonworks living room, and it seemed that every even remotely related family member in Amity Park and the surrounding area was there. At the moment, the room was filled with the sounds of chatter on the scale of the Casper High cafeteria.

Jazz walked over to me and whispered, "Demi, I need to talk to you." I nodded and followed her into the basement, where she produced a few sheets of paper and handed them to me. "These are the results of your blood-ecto tests." I nodded again, scanning the front page.

'Ectoplasmic configuration: Composite; Configurations identified: composite fusion, normal.'

"And you can tell all this by looking at my blood?"

"Actually we're looking at your entire genetic code, which your blood provided us a good sample of."

"Okay. So, what's the difference between a composite and a composite fusion?"

"A fusion is any instance where two sets of ectoplasm, while readily identifiable, work as a single unit and share properties. A composite is more like a halfa. There is the DNA-ectoplasmic configuration you were born with, being Danny's daughter, and there is ectoplasm that you've been fused with through extreme heat or other energy."

"Like an attack from a powerful ghost."

"Exactly."

I reread the words that identified me as a freak. 'Composite; composite fusion, normal.' "What about my brothers?" I asked. "What are the odds of them developing ghost powers?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I honestly don't know."

I nodded. "Thanks."

"Sure, no problem."

I turned to leave, and I heard the ticking again. I was tempted to ask Jazz if she heard it, too, but something told me that would be an exercise in futility. Instead, I turned back and picked up the thermos. "You don't mind if I ask Phantom a few questions, do you?" I asked.

"No, not at all," Jazz replied. "I think I'll go try the dip." With that she walked out of the room.

"That was easy," I said, setting the thermos back down.

"Thank God. So, whaddaya wanna know?" Phantom asked with his usual slightly annoyed tone.

"If you've been hearing any ticking lately."

"Ticking?"

"Like a clock."

"Oh, that sound a few minutes ago? I could've sworn I was back at Clockwork's." I could hear Phantom shudder.

"So, if you've been hearing ticking, too, then I'm not crazy."

"Wait, we've both been hearing ticking?"

"Apparently."

"What about your dad and his clone?"

"Haven't asked them yet. Why?"

Phantom sighed. "This may sound crazy, but I think the clock in the poem is calling us."

"Us?"

"Told you it sounded crazy, but this is what I get for being trapped in a thermos for thirty years with Clockwork."

"You think the clock is calling us? We're far from Ancient Ghosts, and what use does a Ghost Zone not under the rule of Pariah Dark, if he is the cruel master, have for us?"

"I...wouldn't be so sure the Ghost Zone doesn't need anybody," Phantom said. The portal doors tore open and sirens blared. I dove under the table, taking the thermos with me, as countless ghosts flew out of the portal.

"What is going on down here?" Dad asked as he rushed into the basement and was forced to press his back to a wall. I peered out from under the table, made eye contact, and pointed to the portal. "Ecto-Exodus? I haven't answered one of these since I was fourteen."

"This has happened before?" I asked. We had to shout to be heard over the roar of panicking ghosts pouring from the portal.

"Yes, and if I'm right, I know exactly what happened." He dove into a roll, passing right beneath the stream of ghosts and landing right next to the table. "There aren't an obscene amount of ghosts in the Ghost Zone, so in a few minutes, we're going in."

"You remember the last time you got into this mess?" Phantom asked.

"Yes, I do, but I beat him then, and I can do it again."

"But can you do it for good?" I asked.

"I think that's supposed to be a team effort, except I'm not sure who's on the team, except maybe us and the clone," Phantom said.

"Dani," Dad and I replied at the same time.

"Yeah, whatever."

"We're just going in to check things out, as soon as we get the opportunity. We'll see what we find and go from there."

"Got it," I said.

"Not like I'm going anywhere," Phantom snapped.

The stream of ghosts finally thinned to a trickle, and Dad and I jumped into the portal.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" I asked, my eyes roaming the nearly infinite, empty expanse of the Ghost Zone.

"Any clue as to who let Pariah out," Dad replied, "and best guess says that our pool of suspects is small."

"Where do we start?"

Dad pulled up to a stop. "I...don't know," he said.

"Can I spitball here?" Phantom asked from the thermos.

"Go ahead," I replied. "We don't know where to start."

"Ask the ghost who knows everything."

I glanced at my Dad, but I couldn't help but think that Phantom was making sense. Too much sense. "I can't believe I'm saying this," Dad said, "but we're listening to the psychopath in the thermos."

Dad turned and flew toward the edge of the Ghost Zone, a region I recognized from before, when I had followed Ember here, rather than my dad.

The castle was still in ruins, which struck me as a little odd for a guy who literally had all the time in the world to rebuild his home. We landed in the foyer, and I glanced down at the thermos in my hands moment. The entire castle seemed as deserted as the rest of the Ghost Zone. "Okay, Phantom," I said. "Where's our ghost?"

"You mean he's not here?" Phantom asked. I twisted the cap off the thermos, and Phantom shot out. He looked around a good three or four times before turning to face us. "Well, where is the sneaky little bastard?"

"Hell if I know," I said.

Dad gave me a look, and I took a step back. "Where do we start now?" Dad asked, folding his arms across his chest. I walked between the two, toward the screen at the front of the room. The screen was blank, and when I tapped it, it appeared solid. That's not gonna work, I thought, turning back toward Dad and Phantom.

"Dad, the last time the ghosts cleared out of the Ghost Zone, did it have anything to do with Pariah Dark?" I asked.

"Everything," he replied.

"Where was his main headquarters?"

"Demi, where are you going with this?"

"The scene of the crime."

DPDP

A giant castle stood on a stairwell on a rock that could've dwarfed it if it weren't so freakish-looking. The front facade looked like the face of a skull, and it seemed that the drawbridge dominated it. We landed on the rock, a good twenty feet from the drawbridge. I took a few steps forward and gave the Keep a once-over. "Where's this so-called Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep?" I asked.

"Throne room, second floor," Phantom said. "The true question is how you're going to get in there."

"Humans are ghosts in the Ghost Zone."

Dad shifted into human form and said, "Phantom, stay out here and don't cause any trouble. We're going in." Phantom looked around, shrugged, followed us across the rock to the stairwell leading to the castle. Phantom leaned against the stairwell, and Dad and I walked up the stairwell.

I stared up at the skull-face as we approached, and the lead ball forming in my stomach grew heavier and heavier with each step I took. I glanced back down the stairwell at Phantom, and then I looked back up at my destination. Pariah's Keep, Dad had called it when he introduced it to me. If ever there were a more imposing structure, I've never heard of it.

Dad passed through the door effortlessly. I stepped closer toward it and reached out, wondering if this situation would make passing through walls any more difficult than it already was for me. My hand passed through the door easily, and I walked through the door, albeit a little reluctantly.

The room beyond was deserted save the two of us, and I rushed up so that I was closer to my dad. We walked across the room to another door, which I passed through without hesitation. Another stairwell lay beyond. "On three, we're flying up," Dad said. "One, two, three." Dad shot up the stairwell. I jumped, and I found myself drifting up the stairwell behind my dad.

After dodging axes from the ceiling and other medieval weapons from other places, I reached the top landing, only a few seconds behind Dad. "Nice job for a first try," he said.

"Uh, thanks, I think," I replied.

We passed through the door into a room with two walls lined with skeletons and pumpkins. Spikes shot out of the walls, and they closed in on us. "Go," Dad said, and we rushed across the room.

As the walls continued to close in, the room seemed to get longer. It reminded me of the odd nightmare I would get in which I couldn't run fast enough and felt like I had lead feet. The instant I had the chance, I dove through the door, rolling clumsily into the room beyond. "Demi, are you okay?" Dad asked, reaching down to help me up. I nodded and looked around at the room.

"Where exactly are we?"

"If I remember this right, we're in Pariah's throne room. That giant thing in the back is the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep."

I stared at the sarcophagus, whose lid was wide open. "We're just looking around for clues, right?"

"Yes, just clues."

I walked toward the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep and studied the floor around it. "Whoever was here must've been scared out of his wits. He left his key."

"Key?" Dad walked over to where I was standing, staring at the large key on the floor next to the sarcophagus. "Now this is getting more and more familiar by the second."

"Was there a key involved last time?"

"It's not the key, because there's always a key. It's the person using it. The last time, Vlad Plasmius was the one to unlock Pariah, and he fled the scene, too."

"Similar M.O., similar suspects."

"Exactly, but last I checked, Vlad was a space nomad."

"Unless he taught himself how to make ghost portals, like you sometimes do."

"So he found his way here for another bid for power."

"Possibly, but how would that work?"

Dad stared at the sarcophagus for a long moment. "He already has the Crown of Fire, and Pariah still has the Ring of Rage. Both of those ghosts are going to try to reunite the two objects, and though I don't know how well Plasmius can handle it, I know Pariah's bad news regardless of whether he has the objects or not."

"Not quite sure I know what those are."

"Basically they're two artifacts from the Ghost Zone that give the wearer unlimited power, but only very powerful ghosts can control them."

"Okay."

Dad picked up the key and studied it. "So what we have so far is someone, likely to gain more power, unlocked the Sarcophagus, was scared out of his wits by Pariah, left the key, and fled to parts unknown."

"Yeah, and for suspects we have Vlad Plasmius and that's about it."

"Right."

"You two, intruders, halt."

Dad and I turned simultaneously to face the Fright Knight, pointing his sword directly at us. This one, I was sure, was real. He stepped forward, sword still drawn and at the ready. "You, girl with the visions. What are you doing here?"

"Leaving," I said, glancing around him to the door. "That's okay, isn't it, since we're intruders?"

"All intruders will be dealt with by me," a voice from behind the Fright Knight said. The Fright Knight turned and bowed to the enormous figure in the shadows. Dad stepped forward and shifted into ghost form. I backed up against the nearest wall, positioning myelf right next to the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. "You say this girl has visions?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"She doesn't look like much."

"She is but a fledgling, my lord."

I swallowed and backed up even further against the wall. Dad stepped between the two ghosts and myself, and I glanced at the window. Okay, I thought, this is it. I shot toward the window, passing through effortlessly, and made my way around to the front.

The rock was covered in skeletons, all closing in on Phantom, who was pressed against the wall and struggling to hold up a ghost shield against the barrage of bones and weapons from all eras. I shifted into ghost form and fired ecto-blasts at the skeletons. I dropped so that I was level with Phantom. "I see you could use an assist," I said.

"How many of these things are there?"

"God knows."

"Okay, Dad's still up there with Pariah and his good buddy the Fright Knight, who, apparently, has been spying on me via statues." I threw up a ghost shield. "That begs the question: who's been putting the statues around the Ghost Zone, and why do we detect them as ghosts?"

"You're gonna have to catch me up on that."

"On my signal, we're going up. We have to get my dad and get out of here. This situation is already bad enough as it is. Now." I pulled the shield upward, and Phantom drifted up the wall, keeping pace.

Half-way up the wall, I heard the window shatter, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw my dad tumble end over end into the expanse known as the Ghost Zone. "Change of plans," I said, dropping the shield. "Fly, Phantom, as fast as you can."

"Where?"

"Anywhere you can find asylum." Phantom shot off into the Ghost Zone, and I flew toward my dad. "You okay?" I asked when I caught up with him. He nodded, and I looked over my shoulder at the Keep. "I told Phantom to go wherever he could get refuge, and I think we should, too."

Pariah flew out of the keep, right toward us. "Go," Dad said.

"We're going together," I replied. "That, or we're staying together."

"No, Demi, it's too dangerous."

Pariah fired a blast, and I caught it, sending it back at him. "Life's dangerous. I thought we covered this when Phantom attacked me."

"Demi, this guy's worse."

"You can't protect me forever."

"But I can try."

Pariah closed in, firing another blast. I threw up a shield, and the energy shot out through the Ghost Zone. "Well, Dad, what do we do?"

"If me coming with you is the only way to get you out of here, then we're getting out of here."

I launched myself over my shield and flew in a randomly selected direction, glancing over my shoulder to see my dad following close behind.


End file.
